Brits hoping to catch a glimpse of the world’s best athletes in action at the Paris Olympics face a hefty price to pay with ticket prices at an all-time high.
There are still vast amounts of tickets available for the Stade de France next summer with prices as high as £850 and the cheapest remaining seats in the evening going for £170.
World Athletics president Seb Coe has expressed serious concern over the prices set, insisting stadiums must be full throughout the Games.
“We have made the point that these prices are lumpy,” Coe said.
Seb Coe is not impressed with the ticket prices
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“These are going to be the most expensive ticket prices in an athletics arena that we have witnessed at an Olympic Games.
“There are difficult balances for any organising committee. It is not easy. I have done that job.
“But if I am wearing my World Athletics hat, I don’t want fans being costed out of the stadium, and I certainly don’t want athletes and their families being costed out of the stadium.
“There are always going to be premium tickets, but it is important that our stadiums are full of people that love our sport, not people that can afford to get to an Olympics.
”Coe points to the success of the World Championships this past summer held in Budapest, where the most expensive tickets for premium seats near the finish line were just around £75.
The reasonably priced tickets were seen as a huge reason the tournament broke attendance records for a World Championships.
According to reports, 404,088 tickets out of 420,000 were sold with a 95 per cent occupancy rate.
Coe fears prices for the Paris Olympics risk undoing all the work Budapest did in attracting people to watch athletics.
“No sport, our sport, cannot afford to look marginal in big championships,” he said. ‘“It really is unacceptable.
Brits will want to see the likes of Katarina Johnson-Thompson
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“I don't want people to think that Budapest was a one-off.
“This is the new standard. Full stadia are absolutely a prerequisite.”
Paris is also set to cash in on the influx of tourists to the city with Metro tickets set to nearly double in price.
The cost of a single metro ticket will rise from €2.10 to €4, but residents with season tickets will avoid the hike.
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It's a different approach to the one organisers took for London 2012 with ticket holders enjoying a free 'Games Travelcard' to be used in between zones 1-9 on the day of the event.
The famous Louvre art museum has also announced plans to hike its basic entrance fee by 29 per cent in the New Year ahead of the Paris Olympics.
It's the first price increase at the Louvre since 2017 with tickets now costing €22 from the previous €17.
